


A Beautiful Mess

by cristobalrios



Category: Star Trek: Picard
Genre: Clueless gays, Early Syrios, Gay S'vec Sylar, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pansexual Cristóbal Rios, Syrios, soft clueless gays, vaguely pre-Syrios
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24942037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cristobalrios/pseuds/cristobalrios
Summary: Cris cancels a date that would have been an uncomplicated night of relaxation in favor of the much more puzzling relationship between him and his CMO that may be completely in his head (hint: it's not) | Early Syrios, pre-series, mutual pining. No beta, just jotted it down quickly. I might use this later as a collection of Syrios drabbles and one-shots instead of posting them individually. I haven't decided yet.
Relationships: Cristóbal Rios/Original Character(s) (mentioned), Cristóbal Rios/Original Male Character(s), Cristóbal Rios/S'vec Sylar
Kudos: 3





	A Beautiful Mess

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Telas_Selar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telas_Selar/gifts).



Rios walked into sickbay, watching Sylar who seemed very focused on what he was doing, who didn’t seem to notice him until he stopped right in front of him, and even then he just glanced in his direction. “Did you not have a… date, sir?” Sylar asked, keeping his focus primarily on what he was doing.

“… I did, but—It got cancelled.” Sylar’s brow quirked and Rios frowned for a second. “Actually, _I_ cancelled it. I… Wasn’t as into it as I thought I would be.” When it happened, when the date was made, Sylar had no reaction, and it… Shouldn’t have hurt. It shouldn’t be frustrating. It should be expected. Why _would_ he react to it? It had nothing to do with him, right? And… He doesn’t have emotions, even more than Vulcan suppression. So what had he been expecting? Maybe it wasn’t expecting, so much as… Wishing. Wishing Sylar would show any sign he did not want him to go out tonight, but he just… Stayed quiet. Stayed formal. Rios usually found it endearing but at the moment it was just irritating. Frustrating. And _maybe,_ he thought, a part of him agreed to the date to spite him, maybe he’d hoped to make him jealous, but Sylar wouldn’t do that. He certainly wouldn’t voice it. Rios didn’t even know if—whatever they have going on, it might not even be anything. It might just be all in Rios’s head. Right now… Has Sylar been _more_ formal than usual? He’s always formal, but—He had seemed a little colder. “I would rather be here tonight.” He told him. He didn’t mean on La Sirena. He meant here, in Sickbay (a place he’d actively avoided until Sylar came aboard). Here, with Sylar.

“That does seem to fit your personality, Captain, but even the more reserved Terrans are still social creatures, and should occasionally spend time with other people.” Sylar informed him, and Rios frowned at that response.

“I don’t want to spend time with other people. Besides, I have _your_ company. I’m not _alone_ ,” he insisted. Why does it hurt that Sylar seemed to be almost encouraging him to go, when he so _desperately_ wanted Sylar to tell him to _stay?_

“I am not very good company, sir.” Was Sylar’s response.

_Of course_ he’d say that. It was simply a lie, and Rios was almost offended by it, but he didn’t let it show because he knew Sylar meant it. And that he’s probably been told that all his life. “Well, _I_ enjoy your company…” Cris told him, and Sylar had a lightly confused look on his face and he thought, for a second, that the doctor’s cheeks seemed slightly greener than they had before, which only encouraged Rios. He didn’t give a shit anymore if he had been reading the signs wrong. That slight blush, no matter how subtle, felt like a reaffirmation of Cris’s theory. Or he’s projecting, seeing what he wants to see. That was also incredibly likely. But he didn’t really care if Sylar hasn’t been flirting with him (alright, that’s not entirely true; It would definitely hurt if he found out that he was just projecting, and Sylar never meant for him to think he was flirting with him). The important thing was, that he wanted Sylar. He wanted to be here, and talk to him, spend time with him, and vaguely _possibly_ flirt and whatever the hell this was, he preferred it over anything else, even if the date tonight would have been a hell of a lot less complicated. Very straightforward compared to the mess that was his relationship with his CMO. But the mess was better. Even the chance that this thing with Sylar could be something, at some point, if he was extremely lucky, was worth more than the guarantee tonight would have brought.

Cris leaned his head in his hand that rested on Sylar’s desk, staring at him without any sign of embarrassment. Sylar was suspiciously focused on his task and Cris thought, for a moment, that he might be blushing again. If he was ever blushing in the first place. It’s so damn hard to tell. “So, what are you doing? Is this one of your experiments?” He asked. “The EMH told me you’ve been working with old, discontinued drugs from Earth that were unstable, trying to fix the issues.”

“Yes, sir.” Sylar responded.

“Can you tell me about it?” Cris asked. Sylar obliged without hesitation, telling him about the intricacies of whatever the hell he was trying to do, and Cris tried to pay attention, but most of it went over his head (medicine has never been his strong suit, and he only ever did the bare minimum required at the academy for it), but he loved hearing Sylar’s voice and found the way Sylar’s lips were moving as he spoke to be very distracting, and his beautiful blue eyes that always reminded Cris of the sea he loved so much, and he was content to imagine Sylar’s hands caressing him as he watched those talented hands demonstrate something Rios had almost completely lost track of what it was, and Sylar was completely oblivious to how little Rios was truly understanding, or just where his mind had wandered off to. But he did pay attention, somewhat. Enough to appear engaged in what Sylar was doing and occasionally ask more questions, just to keep him talking and it lasted for hours and the date was all but forgotten. Yes, he definitely preferred this to however the date – the date with someone who wasn’t Sylar, that he must have been _insane_ to consider – would have gone. Whatever this is, whatever they are, was worth the confusion and doubt.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is me posting my first fic on here that isn't a poem! I'm sure there will be more, if I can actually get myself to finish any of my WIPs. S'vec Sylar belongs to Telas_Selar.


End file.
